Faculty
Artistic Director
Traci-Ann Pearce Skinner
Traci-Ann Pearce Skinner was born in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and began her training at a local dance studio called Simply Dance. For Middle School, she attended BAK Middle School of the Arts. followed by Alexander Dreyfoos, Jr. School of the Arts. She furthered her studies at Peggy Brown’s Dance Academy in Wellington, FL.
At the age of seventeen, Traci-Ann moved to Purchase, NY, to join the S.U.N.Y Purchase’s Dance Conservatory, where she performed works by Kevin Wynn and Sidra Bell. A year later, in New York City, she trained at the Ailey School, working with various choreographers, and also graciously performed a piece by Troy Powell.
Over the next three years, she attended Marymount Manhattan College, located in New York, NY, where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Business. While studying for her Business degree, Traci-Ann joined Synthesis Dance Project, a contemporary dance company under the direction of Tracie Standfield. During her time with Synthesis Dance Project, she traveled the United States, performing in states such as: New York, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. During the course of her dance career, she has also performed in productions and competitions including, but not limited to: The International Dance Festival, Save the Music Concert (benefiting Hurricane Katrina victims and survivors), The Dicapo Opera Theatre, AIDS Benefit Concert at the Pulse Convention, So You Think You Can Dance, and the White Wave/D.U.M.B.O Festival.
Mrs. Skinner continues to dedicate herself to asserting the prominence of the arts in our culture by teaching in our community, as she is the Founder/Director of Dance Universe. Dance Universe is an award-winning studio located in Royal Palm Beach, FL. Mrs. Skinner’s students have received awards from several competitions and have toured to assist the faculty of the New York City Dance Alliance, Artists Simply Human Convention, and Intrigue Dance Convention. Moreover, Mrs. Skinner’s students have received acceptance and scholarships for The Juilliard School, Tisch at New York University, Fordham University, Southern Methodist University, The University of The Arts, The Alvin Ailey Pre-Professional Summer Program, Complexions Summer Program, Peridance, Broadway Dance Center, Alonzo King Lines Summer Intensive, Joffery Miami/ New York and University of the Arts Summer Intensive. The studio’s devotion to the art of dance combined with her passion for teaching the students an artistic form of self-expression are the foundations on which Dance Universe will forever thrive.
FACULTY
Charlotte Campagnuolo
Charlotte Campagnuolo began her training at the age of 3 at The Academy of Ballet Florida. She attended both the Bak Middle School of the Arts and The Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. School of the Arts as a dance major. After attending the American Ballet Theatre, New York City summer program in 2005 she was named a National Training Scholar and was accepted into The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre on a full scholarship. She was one of only 20 dancers from around the world to be accepted into the school. Charlotte was only 15 years old, making her the youngest dancer to be placed in the advanced level at JKO. During her 3 years with the JKO school, she trained under the likes of Franco De Vita, Gelsey Kirkland, Susan Jaffe, Kevin Mackenzie, Lupe Serrano, Cynthia Harvey, Leslie Brown, and many more ABT alumni. During that time she performed principal roles such as The Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty and Odette in Swan Lake. She also had the privilege of dancing as a featured soloist in many contemporary works including pieces by both Jessica Lang and Kevin Wynn. In 2008, Charlotte was given the honor of being hand chosen by Susan Jaffe to travel and perform an original Pas De Deux by Ms. Jaffe herself.
In 2013 Charlotte began her teaching journey. She specializes in ballet, pointe, contemporary ballet, and choreography. She joined the faculty at The Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in 2017 as an Artistic Consultant and has since had the privilege of choreographing in both their fall and spring Dance Concerts each year. Charlotte is also certified in the American Ballet Theatre, National Training curriculum. Charlotte’s students have gone on to be accepted into The Julliard School, The Ailey School, Butler University, Pace University, and many more. Many of her students have also gone on to have successful professional dance careers. During Charlotte’s time at Dance Universe, she has choreographed many pieces that have won top awards at Nuvo Dance Convention, Revel Dance Convention, and New York City Dance Alliance. She also received a choreography award from Intrigue Dance Intensive for her piece “Motions”. Charlotte has a true love for teaching and choreographing. Seeing her students flourish is one of her greatest joys.
Charlotte Campagnuolo
Charlotte Campagnuolo began here training at the age of 3 at The Academy of Ballet Florida. She attended both the Bak Middle School of the Arts and The Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. School of the Arts as a dance major. After attending the American Ballet Theatre, New York City summer program in 2005 she was named a National Training Scholar and was accepted into The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre on a full scholarship. She was one of only 20 dancers from around the world to be accepted into the school. Charlotte was only 15 years old, making her the youngest dancer to be placed in the advanced level at JKO. During her 3 years with the JKO school, she trained under the likes of Franco De Vita, Gelsey Kirkland, Susan Jaffe, Kevin Mackenzie, Lupe Serrano, Cynthia Harvey, Leslie Brown and many more ABT alumni. During that time she performed principal roles such as The Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty and Odette in Swan Lake. She also had the privilege of dancing as a featured soloist in many contemporary works including pieces by both Kevin Wynn and Jessica Lang. In 2008, Charlotte was given the honor of being hand chosen by Susan Jaffe to travel and perform an original Pas De Deux by Ms. Jaffe herself. Charlotte is now dedicated and focused on teaching young girls the Art of Dance. She has a true love for the Art which can be seen through her passion for teaching. —
Lauren Desantis
Lauren Desantis was born and raised in Wellington, FL. She began her dance training at the age of 3 at Peggy Brown’s Academy of Dance. She then attended The Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr. School of the Arts, where she majored in dance. She continued to dance in college at Florida State University, which led her to a career in Education. Currently she works at Allamanda Elementary in Palm Beach Gardens as a Kindergarten Teacher. This will be her 7th year as a Kindergarten Teacher, and 3rd year as a Jazz and Combo Class instructor at Dance Universe. Lauren has also enjoyed choreographing pieces for the Advanced Company Students at Dance Universe. She is thrilled to continue sharing her experience and passion for dance with her students.
Odinni Jones
Odinni Jones was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He began his training in high school where he took Jazz and Hip Hop. His passion for Hip Hop encouraged him to join, Ala Mar Inc. A traveling hip hop group. They performed throughout New York City and helped those in need by participating in charitable performances. Odinni attended Barry University in Miami, Fl. During his time at Barry he minored in dance and became head of the dance team. They performed for numerous events and enjoyed opening up for the rap artist, Fat Joe. Odinni has choreograoghed for numerous pagents and was formally the co-choreographer for Collateral Damage. They have auditioned for shows such as, but not limited to: America’s got talent, America’s best dance crew and Brooke Hogan knows best. Odinni’s goal is to educate our youth on the history of hip hop culture and dance styles, while also giving his students a chance to express their creativity and to channel their energy into something productive and fun.
Jeremy Coachman
Jeremy Coachman was born and raised in Riviera Beach, Florida. He began his training at the Palm Beach Ballet Center under the direction of Joan Miller for 6 years. While there he worked and performed with members of the company Ballet Florida as well as other companies around the country. After this initial process of discovering dance with Ms. Miller, Jeremy spent two years training full-time with Ballet Florida. During his time there he performed famous ballets such as The Nutcracker, Copellia, and Cleopatra, as well as appearing as an extra in the Palm Beach Opera’s production of La Traviata. Soon after completing his work there, he went on to study under the direction of Heather Lescaille and Tina Martin at the Florida Dance Conservatory. While completing his conservatory studies, Jeremy graduated from the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in 2011. Jeremy has also has had the great opportunity to become a finalist in the YoungArts National Foundation for Advancement of the Arts (NFAA) and worked with notable performers and choreographers such as Desmond Richardson, Aubrey Lynch, Camille A. Brown, and Bill T. Jones. During his summers, he has attended the Alvin Ailey Summer Intensive, Joffery Jazz and Contemporary, and Atlanta Festival Ballet and also teaches and choreographs for local dance studios around south Florida. Throughout the duration of his training, Jeremy has worked with many renown choreographers such as Troy Powell, Margo Sappington, Katherine Posin, Christopher Huggins, Monica Bill Barnes, Emery LeCrone, and Rick McCullough. Jeremy now attends The Juilliard School getting his BFA in dance.
Jordan Lefton
Jordan Lefton is a second year dance major at The Juilliard School in New York City. He is a graduate of Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach where he also majored in dance. Over the past 14 years, Jordan has been trained in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, and Hip Hop. Jordan began dancing at the age of five at Thomas Dance Studio in Lake Worth, Florida, and danced there until he graduated from high school. His dance education at Thomas Dance Studio was under the direction of teachers such as Charlotte Hamer, Teri Szember, Tami Valentine, Virginia Thomas, Amy Gentile and Kenneth Fowler. Jordan’s extensive dance experience includes being a member of Thomas Dance Studio’s Encore! Dance Company for the past eight years, and member of Florida Dance Master’s (FDM) Main Attraction dance company for three years. Jordan has held the titles of Male Rising Star in 2004, Junior Mr. Dance 2008 and Mr. Dance 2010. Through scholarship auditions with FDM, Jordan has been awarded many of the top scholarships including Best Overall. While attending school at Dreyfoos, Jordan has had the good fortune to work with many talented teachers and choreographers including Margo Sappington, Troy Powell, Christopher Huggins, Jeff Satinoff, Jan Hanniford-Goetz and Katherine Posin. At The Juilliard School, Jordan has performed in pieces choreographed by Monica Bill Barnes, Emory LeCrone and José Limon. He studies under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes, Risa Steinberg, Francisco Martinez, Terese Capucilli and Alphonse Poulin.
Tara Langdon
Tara Langdon was born and raised in Palm Beach, Florida. She trained at The Palm Beach Ballet Center, under the direction of Joan Miller, until 2010. She graduated from Dreyfoos School of the Arts in 2011 and has had the privilege of working with choreographers such as Aszure Barton, Troy Powell, Margo Sappington, Christopher Huggins and Monica Bill Barnes. She has attended The Rock School and The American Ballet Theatre Intensive in Austin, Texas and New York City, New York. She currently is a student in the Class of 2015 at The Juilliard School.